The following were those who came up from Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub, Addan, and Immer, though they could not prove their fathers' houses or their descent, whether they belonged to Israel:
Ezra 2 is a careful headcount of the people who came back from Babylon to rebuild, family by family, town by town. Verse 59 turns to a group who made the journey but could not produce what the whole list rested on: proof that they belonged to Israel.
Why the register mattered
The returning exiles had learned what dealing with the surrounding nations cost them. They made sure the rebuilt community would not repeat it.
J. N. DarbyThe first thing to notice is this. They had felt what it was to deal with the Gentiles. They had experienced the power and wickedness of those whose help they had once sought. So the children of the captivity resolve that Israel shall be an unmixed Israel, and proved to be so. They are most careful in verifying the genealogies of the people, and of the priests, so that none but Israel should share in the work. This was a return, and the disorder that sin had brought in was no longer to be endured.
Why the proof was missing
Tel-melah, Tel-harsha and the rest were places of exile, and exile is where the records slipped away.
Edward DennettIn the land of their exile they had not taken the same care about title and qualification. Babylon stands for the corruption that God's people are in bondage to through their sins. So their captivity was a time of carelessness. They were suffering under the hand of their God, but it was still a time of confusion and disorder. It had to be so, since they were without the temple, without sacrifices, and without the Lord's presence.
Six hundred and fifty-two who came anyway
These families were not turned back at the road, though the record later loses sight of them.
Arno Clemens GaebeleinThere were six hundred and fifty-two who had joined the company from the Babylonian places Tel-melah, Tel-harsa, Cherub, Addan and Immer. They were the children of Delaiah, of Tobiah and Nekoda. These could not show their descent. They were allowed to return with the rest, but their names are not found in Ezra 10:25-43 or in Nehemiah 10:15-28.
Unproven, not denied
The verdict on them was narrower than it first sounds, and for the priests it left a door open.
Edward DennettIf any could not show their genealogy, they had no claim to take part in the work they had been called to… They were not told that they were not priests. The ground taken was that their claim was not proven. It might be proven at a future time… When that time came, the priest would once more have divine intelligence and discernment through the light and perfection of God (Urim and Thummim). He might then judge them to be truly priests. Meanwhile their claim was forfeited. Grace could restore what was lost under law; only for this they must wait patiently.
Honesty about a weak day
Nobody waved the missing papers through. The refusal was honest about the state of that day.
Michael HardtThis problem could only arise because priestly service had stopped for 70 years, and because of all the confusion the Babylonian captivity brought… Under the circumstances, the best course is to take account of our weakness and not to pretend to have what we do not have. It must have been hard to refuse those priests. But doing so showed that they put God first, not human feelings.
The same uncertainty today
Commentators also draw a personal lesson. Mixing with the world leaves people unsure where they belong.
C StanleyMingling with the Gentile world had caused the Israelites to lose the certainty of their nationality. Is it any wonder, then, that the mixing of the church with the world has left so many unsure whether they are the saved children of God?… Clearly there were many Israelites who could not show their genealogy. There are many Christians who cannot show it either. They are so confused by the false position they are in that they cannot tell whether their names are written in heaven or not.
So where does certainty come from? Not from old records, but from Christ.
C StanleyWe must know Jesus, the Great High Priest in the presence of God. He once bore our sins on the cross, but He is now crowned with glory… In His face shine the lights and perfections of God. How can you enter the holiest place by the blood of Jesus if you are uncertain whether you are saved? Oh, search the register. Never rest, my reader, until this first question is settled.
Summary
- Register: the returning exiles checked every family line. Israel was to be an unmixed Israel, and only Israel would share the work.
- Babylon: the missing records are the fruit of captivity. It was a time of carelessness and disorder, with no temple, no sacrifices and no presence of the Lord.
- Mercy: the 652 still travelled up with everyone else. They lost their standing and their place in the later lists, but not the journey itself.
- Unproven: the ruling was that they had not proved their claim, not that it was false. The question stayed open until a priest with Urim and Thummim should stand up. Grace could still restore what was lost under law.
- Certainty: what Israel lost by mixing with the nations, believers can lose by mixing with the world. Search the register by looking to the Great High Priest, not at yourself.